Official MLBlog of Keith Olbermann

CC Yawns

The view from the not-so-cheap-seats:

If attitude foretells outcome, Game One might have been over when CC Sabathia yawned while completing his warm-ups before facing the Phillies in the bottom of the first. Not that Sabathia pitched poorly nor was expecting the Phils to roll over, but for symbolic contrast you can’t beat Sabathia’s yawn compared to Carlos Ruiz calling time, up 6-1, two out, bottom of the 9th, 0-2 on Jorge Posada – and running out to talk to Cliff Lee when Lee was an out away from one of the modern Workd Series pitching masterpieces. Turned out he was reminding him there was a runner on.

Also disturbing, and far more visible on the tv replay than in the ballpark, was Hideki Matsui’s vapor lock on the bizarre Jimmy Rollins trap-catch of Robinson Cano’s dying liner in the 5th. Matsui’s obligation, in the absence of conclusive guidance from the umpires, is to get his butt back to first base as soon as Cano has passed it. As it proved, Matsui was entitled to return to the base and Cano was out. But even if it was the other way around, Matsui, forced at second, then standing at first does not in any way endanger a Cano who is safe at first. The umpires also did a mediocre job making clear that Rollins had caught the ball and not trapped it, but it’s Matsui’s responsibility to not let himself get tagged out for a deflating double play.

I don’t think any Yankee other than Derek Jeter hit one of Lee’s pitches squarely, and there by itself is another decisive contrast: those two homers by Chase Utley were, as you’ve doubtless heard, the first surrenderred by Sabathia to a lefthanded hitter at Yankee Stadium this year. One good team played above expectations, the other, well below them.

14 Comments

Keith, I love ya, but you are totally off on your analysis of this series. I know you are a Yankees fan so I don’t expect you to be unbiased in your analysis. Did you forget the beat down the Phils gave Sabathia in last year’s playoffs? They got into the man’s head like that alien parasite seen in Star Trek II. The Phillies are more than Ryan Howard, as they showed tonight, so focusing on one Howard stat like his average against lefties doesn’t tell the whole picture, as we saw tonight (and Howard had 2 doubles I might add).

I’m not a Phils fan, but it’s certainly interesting to watch the 2008 World Series Champions be underestimated time and again by the “experts.” They were supposed to lose to the Dodgers and now they’re expected to lose to the Yankees… Perhaps they’re World Champions for a reason…? Do ya think?

Lee did a great job, and it’s odd that the Phillies fans boast about their batters continually, when it’s their pitcher who’s the force to be reckoned with. The only reason their batters scored as much as they did was the Yankees’ lousy pitching. When the Phillies had the bases loaded, they should have made a grand slam. But they failed to do so, and worse still, it was the same guy, Chase Utley, who hit both solo home runs! The other Phillies batters had to expend way too much effort to score against The Yawning Pitcher. So it’s time to give credit where credit is due: Cliff Lee.

I respectfully disagree on one point, Keith…I thought Sabathia pitched very poorly. At least twice, his pitches were so bad that even the catcher couldn’t hang onto them. And Sabathia was walking so many guys, that if those batters had been dogs, he’d have a very successful dog-walking business.

The Yankees should have invested in two things recently: A retractable roof for their stadium, and a decent pitcher. Burnett is pathetic, and Sabathia isn’t much better. Tonight proved how much the Yankees need both. (I hope you managed to keep fairly dry in that downpour, Keith – you don’t want that cold/flu/whatever-it-was to make a return appearance….)

As Mitch Williams pointed out after the game, that first Utley HR was a NuYankee Stadium, RF HR. That would have been a pop fly or hit off the wall at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillies position players played a TON of games this year and didn’t get enough off-days. Those 6 days off may have made a big difference, particularly for Chase Utley. Don’t think many people have pointed this out.

CC pitched well, but he got into too many deep counts. And then the bullpen collapsed. Phillies are demonstrating a lot more plate discipline at the plate than their fans are used to seeing during the regular season.

Except Feliz. He continues to have a misearable postseason. If I were Amaro, I’d be taking a very close look at the FA market for 3B this offseason.

ericvsthem…Phillies fans were not surprised by anything last night. Being patient at the plate isn’t new for the Phils. I believe Jayson Werth is the NL player who sees the most pitches on average per at bat. Again, nothing new here for Phillies fans, maybe for those who haven’t been paying attention.

Am I the only one who thinks Utley might have hurt his back on his second home run swing? It wasn’t exactly a fluid swing. More like he went down and jerked the ball. And he looked like he was standing awkwardly in the dugout afterwards. This while McCarver was talking about what a gamer he is.

First of all. I really thought game 1 was a flip the coin game. It could have gone either way. It does make tonight a must win for Yankees. They really should win tonight. AJ could implode but so could Pedro. If the Yanks do win tonight they are right back in the drivers seat. One grave error I feel was made by Manuel. Does he dis-trust his bullpen that much he would put in Lee with a hi pitch count and a 6-0 lead? I think that puts him out for game 4. Meaning he would pitch only one more game and the Yanks have a real good chance of winning all 3 of those games until game 5. This is a huge game tonight.

You call ’em as you see ’em Keith and that’s an admirable and unique trait. Most won’t do that.
Philly is the “Rocky” City!! We just Love the Phillies because They Love the Game.
None of us Really know who will win this Series but Do know this!!………..
The Phillies will Play their Ever Loving Hearts out and that’s all we, as fans, can ask.
**** Luck NYC! May the Best Team win!!
But don’t you Ever take the Phillies for Granted Again!

Keith – I know youre a Yankee honk and I think the world of you but the Phillies didnt exceed expectations last night. The only pitcher hotter in this postseason than CC coming in was Cliff Lee… As a life-long Braves fan, let me remind you of the Braves 1993 ‘cant miss’ team that also won 103 regualr season games but lost in the postseason- to a scrappier Phillies team.. As a National League honk- I firmly believe every AL game played since 1973 should have an asterisk beside it to signify when the AL quit playing Baseball- Im hoping the Yankees are also underestimating the Phils as you are…

First, no excuses about CC, we beat him fair and square. Second, noone in Philadelphia was surprised last night. We know that this team is capable of ANYTHING, we’ve all seen it. The national media and spoiled Yankees fans take this team for less than what they are worth. Noone ever gives the Phillies credit, even when we win its always because someone on the other team messed up or some excuse. This team works harder than any team in major league baseball and deserve to be treated that way. The Yankees bought their team, we built ours from the ground up. People need to start to pay attention to this team, maybe when we win this championship Philadelphia will finally get the respect we deserve!!!! Sorry Keith but I’m not so sure you know what youre talking about anymore, at all.

The Yankees have a lot of home grown talent. Don’t give me that garbage that the Phillies are all home grown talent.
You do not know what you are talking about.
3 of the 4 ws starting ptiching is not. Tonight is huge. You can run your mouth tomorrow if the Phillies pull it of. Otherwise I would hold off if I were you.

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